


in which things go from 0 to 100 very quickly and i have no regrets

by CCs_World



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Blood and Gore, Gore, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Sorry My Boy, It's Time To Do A Hit I Guess, Kravitz Gets Done A Trauma, M/M, Murder, Nightmares, Psychological Torture, Temporary Character Death, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-22
Updated: 2018-09-22
Packaged: 2019-07-15 17:25:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16067825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CCs_World/pseuds/CCs_World
Summary: I do a hit on Kravitz.Sent on a job that should be easy, Kravitz gets hit hard by some very scary spells. Taako does his best to help with the aftermath.





	in which things go from 0 to 100 very quickly and i have no regrets

**Author's Note:**

> Oops, please heed the tags!!!

Kravitz climbs out of bed carefully, trying not to disturb his husband (husband! He still thinks giddily sometimes) of two years, who is still sleeping, wild curls splayed out across the pillow he hugs tight, his legs sprawled out, his mouth open. It’s endearing, the messy way Taako sleeps, and Kravitz allows himself a minute or so to just look at Taako. He admires the bare, freckled shoulders which he loves to kiss, and he draws the covers back up over Taako’s sleeping form. “I love you,” he murmurs, kissing Taako’s forehead, and he takes another moment to watch as Taako shifts and his zonked-out expression of blissful sleep changes to a soft smile. Then, and only then, he steps out of the house and into the bright, late-morning streets of Neverwinter, ducking into an alleyway to rip a hole into the fabric of the universe and stepping through into his goddess’s throne room.

**_Kravitz,_ ** the Raven Queen intones, and he inclines his head toward her reverently.  **_I have a bounty for you. I trust that you can take care of it on your own. It should not be too complicated._ **

“Of course, my Queen. I’ll take care of it right away.” He bows to her before wielding his scythe in a flourish that Taako would deem  _ sexy, _ and transports himself to the bounty’s location.

It’s an arctic wasteland, bleak and white and  _ so, so cold.  _ A howling wind blows around him with hurricane forces. Snow is caught in the wind and thrown sideways, slicing through the air and cutting at Kravitz’s constructed body like shards of glass. He shudders, his body not as used to extreme temperatures as it once was after several years of being in the land of the living. To combat the cold and the snow, he switches to his skeletal form and wraps his cloak tight around himself, and then he looks around.

There, to his left, about fifty feet away, is a carefully hidden cave. Inside is a warm golden glow, its flickering movements indicating flames. Kravitz knows that’s where the necromancers are hiding, and so he makes the short but incredibly difficult trek through the wind and the snow, and steps into the cave.

He finds the necromancers quite easily. Catches them in the act, even. They’re not even that high of a level. They’re raising souls of the dead and putting them inside  _ snowmen. _

They’re all staring at him, eyes wide. One of the snowmen wriggles and falls over, smashing to pieces.

Kravitz rolls his eyes, grabs his book from the ethereal plane, and reads out the names and charges of these idiots. “Come quietly,” he says, as he always does, “and your stay in the Stockade will be much shorter.”

Of course they don’t decide to come quietly, which is not only  _ stupid, _ but maks Kravitz’s job harder. He sighs, slams the book shut, summons his scythe, and says, “Alright, boys, you wanna go? Let’s go.”

The fight isn’t that spectacular. He finishes off most of them within the first few minutes. But the other two go racing off deeper into the cave, and Kravitz, resignedly, follows after them. “You’re being unreasonable,” he calls, and then he portals himself to the next big cavern, where he intercepts the necromancers almost right away, catching one of them with the blade of his scythe and only just missing the other one, who darts away to hide in the shadowy crevices.

Carefully, Kravitz cradles the soul of the one necromancer, and he says, “You’ve fucked up real bad” before tossing it into the Astral Plane. He’s just getting ready to go after the last one when his Stone starts to ring.

“Do you, uh,” Kravitz says to the man, who is still hiding in the shadows, cowering away from the skeleton with the massive scythe, “do you mind if I get this?”

“No, no, go ahead,” the man says shrilly. “Do what you need to do.”

Kravitz grins (his head is a skull, he has no other choice) and then his flesh forms over his skeletal body and he answers the Stone. “Hello, darling,” he says warmly, “I’m at work right now, what do you need?”

“I need to know who ate the last graham crackers last night,” Taako grumbles good-naturedly. “I know, I know, you’re basically almost alive now, you’ve gotta eat, but that still doesn’t mean that you can just put an empty box back in the cabinet once you’ve eaten the last graham cracker.”

Kravitz laughs. “What can I say, love, I'm not as perfect as you thought.”

He is so distracted by the trivial conversation with Taako that he doesn't notice the man creeping from the shadows and charging up a spell between his fingertips. It crackles purple-black with malice. Its aura is that of dread.

“Really, Taako, if you want me to, I can pick up a new box on my--”

The spell Withering Destruction hits Kravitz square in the back, and he fails his Constitution saving throw spectacularly. The awful scream he emits comes through the Stone loud and clear, right before he drops it and collapses, his body electrified with sheer agony. He's on his knees now, and the Stone is on the ground, shattered, and he's staring down at his chest, where the spell burned right through him, where blood is now seeping through his clothes, and he gasps in a harsh breath because  _ oh, in this form he's one step short of being alive _ , and the necromancer laughs behind him and casts another spell and Kravitz collapses forward and falls down, down, down into a darkness blacker than the infinite cloak of his goddess.

When he opens his eyes again, he's back at home, lying in bed beside his husband. “Good morning,” Taako says, his green eyes sparkling in the morning sunlight coming through the window. His dimples are showing. He’s beautiful. “You slept longer than me today.” He grins. “I’ll fix us some pancakes.” And Taako leaves the room, clad only in a shirt of Kravitz’s that he’ll never get back.

Kravitz blinks. He’s not exactly certain how he woke up back home. Was that all just a dream? Just a nightmare? He looks down at his chest, just to be sure, and there is no evidence at all of his injury.

His nightmares are becoming more and more realistic, he supposes, and then he climbs out of bed and follows Taako.

When he descends the stairs, he does not enter the familiar, homey downstairs of his shared home with Taako, Lup, and Barry. Instead he enters a cold, unfamiliar, and ultimately hostile area, made of concrete and stark wood and dim-lit. It seems empty at first, but as he looks around (where did the stairs go, he’s certain there were stairs there just a moment ago), he spots a chair in a far corner, where a figure sits tied up and unconscious. The figure is small and fragile, and it looks like a child, but there’s a hood over their head so Kravitz can’t be certain.

Suddenly, Kravitz is grabbed from behind. He struggles, but his captor is too strong, and he is manhandled into a chair and tied there with chains and ropes and locks and tape. His mouth is left uncovered. A voice says behind him, “You can scream all you want. Nobody can hear you down here.”

It’s the necromancer from the cave, Kravitz realizes as the man steps out from behind him, grinning wickedly and approaching the small figure on the other side of the room from Kravitz. “Witness this,” the man says, “as revenge for the lives of the friends you took from me today.” And he yanks the hood off of the head of his captive and--

“Angus,” Kravitz gasps, and then he yells, “Angus! Angus, wake up, Angus--!”

Angus stirs drowsily. “Sir?” he says. “Mr Kravitz, what’s going on?”

“Angus, no, please, not Angus,” Kravitz shouts. “Don’t hurt him, please--!”

But the necromancer just smiles, and he places a hand on Angus’s neck, and he casts the spell Shocking Grasp, and Angus  _ screams. _ He screams and he screams and it doesn’t end as the necromancer shocks him again, and again, and again. Kravitz struggles uselessly against his bonds, screaming until his voice is hoarse, and he is forced to watch as Angus goes limp, as the necromancer revives him, and then as the child’s throat is mercilessly slit with a glittering silver blade that is quickly dyed red.

“No,  _ no, no please,” _ Kravitz yells, his voice cracking and breaking with the strain. “No please, no, bring him back, I’ll do anything--!”

The man doesn’t seem to pay him much mind, simply untying the ropes keeping Angus upright in the chair and tossing the body carelessly against the wall.

And then Magnus is there in Angus’s place, and he’s awake and alive and  _ angry, _ and he fights against the ropes and the chains keeping him there--that is, until he is struck with a bolt of necrotic energy and his back arches and he is left panting, until it happens again. And Kravitz is once more trying to pull his way free of the ropes and chains and he is screaming because Magnus is like his  _ brother, _ and when the necromancer kills him Kravitz feels something break inside of him.

And so it goes. Lup next, an undead being like Kravitz himself, who shouldn’t be able to be killed, who is basically like his sister, and she dies at the hands of the necromancer by  _ fire, _ which is ironic in the worst possible way--she burns away to ashes, screaming like Kravitz has never heard anyone scream. Kravitz, in turn, cries like he’s never cried before, crying tears for his husband as well as himself because Lup is  _ dead _ and this time she won’t be coming back. And yet, he still fights against his bonds, swearing vengeance and harm and destruction upon his captor.

Barry appears in the chair then, and he’s a necromancer and he’s undead, and Kravitz is confident that he won’t be able to die this time, until the necromancer forcibly and violently tears Barry’s heart right out of his ribcage, the organ pulsing and pumping blood futilely into the man’s bright red hand, and Barry is limp and pale and useless and dead and Kravitz is full-on sobbing now, begging for it to end, pleading for him to stop, for no more harm to be done, for this to be it.

But it isn’t.

Because next is Taako.

Kravitz pulls against his ropes frantically, chafing his arms and wrists as he tries to escape, as he tries to get to Taako, and he’s screaming, “Taako! Taako, no--please, please, kill me instead, please don’t hurt him, please, don’t kill him, don’t, please--please, just kill me instead, please let him live--!”

The necromancer grins. “Oh, yes. This is your husband, isn’t it?” he says. “Well, then. I’ll make sure to make this  _ extra _ fun.”

“No, no,  _ no, please--” _

Begging does nothing to stop the necromancer, who just begins beating the  _ shit _ out of Taako. Each time he hits the elf, Taako lets out a sharp cry, which turns into just full-on crying as his face becomes bruised and bloodied. Tears track down his cheeks, making clear trails through the splattered blood, and he cries without ending, his voice cracking with the strain.

“Now, Kravitz,” the necromancer sneers, turning towards the sobbing man, “how would you like me to proceed? I can cast Shocking Grasp on him, like I did with the little boy. I can tear his limbs off one by one. I can shove needles under his fingernails. I can rip out his eyes. Whatever you’d like.”

“Please,” Kravitz whimpers. “Please, please, please, don’t hurt him anymore. Please.”

“What was that?” the necromancer leers, cupping a hand over his ear to pretend to hear better. “Gouge out his eyes? Why absolutely, Kravitz, you don’t even need to ask.”

Kravitz can’t even beg anymore, reduced to incomprehensible wailing, as he watches the almost ritualistic practice take place in front of him. The monster takes his time, seeming to cherish every scream Taako makes, as he pries the eyes right from Taako’s sockets and brandishes them like twin trophies, like diamonds, before Kravitz. Blood now pours freely down Taako’s face, and he cries blood instead of water. His mouth gapes and his whole body shudders silently with the force of his trauma. Kravitz can’t even look anymore. He can’t stand the spreading dark red puddle around the chair.

“You’re gonna want to watch this,” the necromancer says, and Kravitz looks up slowly, his breath shuddering in his chest. His captor now brandishes a sword, long and bright and gleaming. “I figured we’d do this the old-fashioned way,” he says gleefully. “I want myself a trophy.”

And he swings the sword.

And Kravitz  _ screams. _

Taako is silent.

The room is silent.

The eyeless, slack-jawed head topples to the floor, already ashen with death.

It is not poetic.

The room rings with Kravitz’s heavy sobs. There is no other sound.

His posture is that of resignation and defeat. His shoulders slump. His chin rests on his chest. His long hair hangs loose around his face. And he cries without ceasing.

And it starts again.

A small figure, tied in a chair, a hood over its head.

Dead.

A hulking mass of a man, fighting for freedom but unable to escape.

Dead.

A burning phoenix, raging against the inevitable.

Dead.

A peaceful man, full of love and honor and charity, wearing his heart upon his sleeve and, eventually, losing his heart entirely.

Dead.

The haughty form of the most beautiful elf on the planet, reduced to a shell and stripped of everything that made it vibrant.

Dead.

And it starts again.

-

Taako is, in a word, worried.

Taako is, in several words,  _ freaked the fuck out. _

The last thing he heard from Kravitz was a scream, a scream like nothing he’s ever heard before, a scream that sounds like someone  _ dying, _ and he does  _ not _ like that.

Of course he knows his husband can’t die. That doesn’t mean he can’t be scared of that possibility anyway.

Anyway, the  _ point _ is that he’s now on the Stone with Lup and Barry and he’s maybe yelling a little bit because his husband is out in the middle of some godforsaken  _ necromancy den _ and he could be  _ dead _ or  _ worse _ and Taako is stuck at home and he can’t do  _ shit. _

“I just--maybe if I hadn’t called him he’d be fine, this is my--”

“Taako,” Lup says very firmly, and that shuts him right up. “No guilt spirals on my watch. It’s nobody’s fault but the bastard who hurt him. And we’re gonna hurt that bastard right back.” She sounds almost gleeful.

And then she hangs up.

And Taako is left to wait.

And wait.

He paces around the entire floor plan of the house at least three times. He bites off all his fingernails and then repaints them twice. He whips up several batches of merengues but burns them all. He flips through an entire book without reading a word.

And then there’s a noise in front of him like a really, really big piece of paper ripping in half, and there’s Lup on the other side of the portal, and she looks  _ really _ grim. “Hey, babe,” she says quietly. “You’re gonna want to handle this.”

Taako’s heart gives a pang of anxiety, but he tells his emotions to shut up and joins his sister and his in-law on the other side of the portal.

The first thing he sees is the dead guy. It’s pretty gruesome; it looks like Lup and Barry went to town on this guy. He can’t find it in himself to feel bad.

The second thing he sees is his husband, lying on the ground, curled up into a ball, his breathing harsh and pained, blood staining the ground beneath him. “Sweet Pan have mercy,” Taako breathes, falling to his knees beside Kravitz and gently pulling him into his arms. “Oh, gods,” Taako gasps upon seeing the wound his husband is sustaining. “Oh, gods, oh gods, Lup, he’s--I don’t--” His hands are sticky with blood, his clothes are stained with it, it’s  _ everywhere,  _ and it’s all tainted with this sickly aura of death and decay and malice.

“Shit, Taako, we’ve gotta get him back to RQ,” Lup says, a tinge of fear in her voice.

“I got it,” Barry offers, and tears a portal into the Raven Queen’s throne room. “Hey, Momma bird,” he calls, “something’s up with Krav!”

**_What has happened?_ ** She asks, Her voice thundering in the huge space.  **_What has been done to my child?_ **

Taako steps through the portal, Kravitz in his arms. “He’s hurt,” he says, his voice cracking. “I don’t know what happened, I called his Stone, I thought he was done working--”

“He had a bad run-in with some necromancers,” Barry explains, interrupting Taako before he can spiral. “Looks like… a ninth-level Withering Destruction.” He grimaces. “Ouch.”

“He also looks like he’s dreaming,” Lup says. “Look at the way his eyes move.”

“That’s--I know what that is,” Taako says softly, still cradling Kravitz in his arms. “That’s a spell  _ I _ have. That’s Phantasmal Killer. But it’s been… modified, to create a dreamscape.” He looks absolutely distressed as he gazes down at Kravitz’s pained, twitching face. “He’s scared,” he whispers. “I don’t know how to--I don’t have Dispel Magic. I can’t--”

**_Do not fret, Taako,_** The Raven Queen hums. **_Give him to me. I will refresh his form and wake him from his dream._**

Carefully, Taako approaches the goddess, hugging Kravitz close to him. “I, uh. Here,” he says, kind-of-sort-of holding out the unconscious form of his husband, and the Raven Queen stretches out Her clawed hands and takes the man from Taako, cradling him gently in Her massive hands.

**_Come, my child,_ ** She murmurs, and then She places Kravitz on Her lap and folds Her cloak over him.  **_Let me take care of you._ ** She bows Her head. And She is silent.

Taako, Lup, and Barry stand in the throne room, watching, waiting. Nothing is said.

A stretch of time later that Taako cannot seem to define, She moves, and draws back Her cloak.  **_He is afraid,_ ** She says.  **_He is very afraid, and he is very sad. I cannot heal his mind._ ** Gently, She lifts Kravitz from Her lap and places him on the floor of the throne room, where he immediately falls to his knees, wraps his arms tight around his stomach, and sobs like the world is ending.

“Kravitz!” Taako cries, and rushes to his husband’s side, kneeling in front of him and grasping him by the shoulders. “Kravitz, baby, it’s okay--”

_ “No!” _ Kravitz screams, and it’s a heart-wrenching sound. “You can’t--please don’t do it again--please don’t hurt him anymore--”

“Kravitz, Kravitz, sweetheart, you’re awake,” Taako says desperately, “please, it’s okay, I’m here--” He cups Kravitz’s face and gently lifts his chin, and-- _ oh. _ His eyes look  _ haunted. _

Kravitz sniffles, still crying, but his sobs are dying down little by little. “Hey,” Taako murmurs. “You’re safe now. Yeah?” He brushes away some of Kravitz’s tears with his thumbs. “It’s okay now.”

“This is a trick,” Kravitz whispers. “It’s a trick. Y-you’re gonna die again. He’s gonna--” He wrenches his face out of Taako’s grip and curls in on himself even tighter. “I can’t,” he sobs. “I can’t, I can’t, I  _ can’t. _ ”

“You’re not--Kravitz, you’re not dreaming anymore. You’re awake, I swear.” Taako doesn’t try to take a hold of his face anymore, instead just settling for stroking Kravitz’s hair. “I promise I’m safe.” Kravitz’s whole body shudders with the force of his distress, but his crying becomes quieter, and he seems to lean into Taako’s touch a little. Good, this is good. “Do you want to go home?” Taako asks softly. “We can go home right now if you want. Get you a cup of tea, something to eat, and then we can sit on the couch and binge some Queer Eye all day. How does that sound?”

Hearing Taako’s voice seems to calm Kravitz down, and his sobs die down to nothing. He’s still crying, sure, but at least he doesn’t seem like he’s about to make himself sick. He nods at Taako’s suggestion, and finally looks up at him of his own volition. “Pr-promise this is all real?” he manages.

“I  _ promise,” _ Taako says, and leans forward to kiss Kravitz’s forehead. “C’mon, babe, let’s get you home.” He stands, and then he helps Kravitz get to his feet. “Barold,” Taako calls, “can I get a portal home please?”

“Sure thing,” Barry responds, and opens a portal straight into the bedroom Taako and Kravitz share. “Lup and I will be home later.”

“Sounds good,” Taako says absently, an arm around Kravitz as he helps him step through the portal, following him afterward. The tear closes up behind them, and then they’re alone in the house. “C’mon, babe,” Taako murmurs. “You wanna get out of that suit?”

Kravitz nods numbly and begins unbuttoning his jacket. He shrugs it off, then does the same to his vest. He removes his tie next, then fumbles through unbuttoning his shirt. His hands are uncoordinated, moving too fast, and Taako grasps his wrists and says, “Hey, hey, slow down, babe. You're gonna rip something.”

Kravitz's hands are shaking. “I--I can't--”

“I know, babe. C’mon, let me help you.” Taako gently pushes Kravitz's hands to his sides and helps him to finish undressing, and then hands him a pair of sweatpants stolen from Barry and a T-shirt stolen from Magnus. Kravitz puts on the clothes and then sits heavily on the bed, staring off into space.

“Hey, none of that,” Taako says gently, cupping his face. “Stay with me, huh?”

Kravitz nods slightly. “Okay,” he mumbles, then, “tea?”

“Right!” Taako snaps his fingers. “Tea! What kind d’you want, Krav?”

“Um. Fantasy Irish breakfast.” He’s starting to sound more lucid now, which is good.

“Two sugars, a little milk, steeped til it’s so strong it can lift our cats. I gotcha,” Taako lists, grinning. “You wanna stay here, or you wanna come down with me?”

“I want to come with you.” Kravitz grabs onto Taako’s hand and doesn’t let go.

“Okay, that works just fine,” Taako says. “Come on, sweetcheeks, let’s get some tea in you.”

The pair heads down the stairs, hand-in-hand, Kravitz clinging close to his husband (Taako has no problem with this). He seems a little shaky, so Taako chatters about the cats and about that  _ bitch _ Susan on the PTA and Kravitz seems to relax just a bit.

“Mrrow!”

Taako almost falls on his face as the fluffy grey bastard rubs up against his ankle just as he steps off the bottom stair, but luckily Kravitz is clutching his hand hard enough that he can pull Taako upright. “Duke Bitey-Face,” Taako scolds, bending down to scoop the offending feline up with his free hand. “You should know better by now.”

Kravitz laughs slightly, which is a win, and lets go of Taako’s hand to make grabby motions towards the cat. “Come here, baby boy,” he says.

Taako thrusts the cat into Kravitz’s arms. “Here. Take the stinky bastard son.”

“Nooooo,” Kravitz whines, hugging the animal close to his chest. “He's perfect.”

Taako grins and heads into the kitchen to put the kettle on and Kravitz follows, holding the cat like a baby. “Awful boy,” Taako continues. “Nasty baby.”

“Don't be mean,” Kravitz pouts. He's sounding more and more like himself, which is good. But when Taako turns around to grin at him, his eyes still look… off.

Taako’s expression fades into something more serious, and he walks over to his husband and gently touches his shoulder. “Hey,” he says. “Let's sit down, okay?”

Kravitz nods, and Taako leads him to the sofa, sitting down first and then letting Kravitz put his legs across his lap. The cat  _ mrrps  _ as he escapes Kravitz’s arms, but he stays, draping himself over the couple, and Kravitz pets him absently as he snuggles close to Taako.

They’re quiet for a while. Words aren't necessary. Taako strokes his husband’s hair and sometimes presses kisses to his forehead or cheeks, and Kravitz sighs and occasionally sniffles and he dozes with his head on Taako’s shoulder. It’s only when the teakettle whistles that the scene is at all disturbed, and Taako sighs with exaggerated annoyance as he extricates himself from his clinging husband to go pour him a too-strong cup of Fantasy Irish breakfast with an ungodly amount of sugar.

A minute or two later he returns, steaming mug of tea in hand, and he finds Kravitz on the verge of a panic attack. “Shit,” he hisses, setting the mug down on the coffee table and flinging himself at his husband to comfort him as well as he knows how. “What’s up, babe, what’d I do wrong?” he asks.

“Thought you were--thought you were gone,” Kravitz manages, his whole body trembling. “I--shit, Taako, I thought he’d caught you and--” He bites his lip, then wraps his arms tight around Taako and doesn’t let go. “Don’t go,” he whispers, his voice small and pathetic. “Please don’t go.”

“I won't, Krav, I won't, I promise. Not going anywhere.” Taako holds onto him and kisses his head and strokes his hair, offering all the physical comforts he possibly can as Kravitz clings to him, trembling and scared. “I’m not gonna leave you, huh?”

Kravitz, his face smushed into Taako’s chest, nods as well as he can. “I love you,” he mumbles. “I love you I love you I love you.”

“Mmm, I love you too,” Taako says into Kravitz’s hair. “I'm not going anywhere.”

Kravitz nods again. “Okay,” he says, “okay.”

The rest of the day goes without much incident. They remain together on the couch, drinking tea and watching mindless TV shows, and their four cats come and go, snuggling up close to their people for hours at a time. They go to bed early that evening and this time, Taako holds Kravitz as he weeps in the throes of a nightmare, and when he wakes, he orients him back to reality and kisses the tears from his cheeks and tells him he loves him until he can repeat it back. Their cats join them shortly after, sensing his distress, and they curl up and purr until the couple falls asleep in each other's arms.

Kravitz doesn't return to work for a few days, not until he can be in a room without Taako within line of sight, and even then the Raven Queen assigns him easy bounties until he seems like his normal self. And every evening he comes home to Taako, grading papers with glasses perched on his nose or standing at the stove with his apron on over pajamas or dozing on the sofa surrounded by cats, and Kravitz smiles and kisses him sweetly until Taako smiles back.

Things aren't normal after the incident, but things don't have to be normal. Kravitz still cries in his sleep sometimes, but Taako is always there to comfort him, and that's all he needs.

**Author's Note:**

> Come scream at me on tumblr @themindofcc!!


End file.
